A successful potty day

Today was a success day on the potty. We are in the process of doing some potty training with Maddie. We haven't transitioned any of it to daycare although I think next week i'll ask her to start putting her on the potty after nap time. While it is a little early Maddie seems to be doing pretty good.

Today at home Maddie did all her peeing on the potty which was great.  She peed first thing this morning a few minutes after she got up. While her diaper wasn't dry (some mornings it is others its not) she still went a significant amount which makes me think the pee that was in her diaper was probably either from late last night or very early this morning. Either way a success!

Then after picking her up from daycare this afternoon we took a quick trip to the bank and then had a fairly quick dinner with my friend Tara (Auntie Tara to Maddie). We we got home she was still dry from her last diaper at daycare (about 2 hours after i picked her up) so I put her on the potty. She peed again and we let her wear some of her underwear around the living room while she played. About 45 minutes later she peed again! And now its bedtime so she'll go into a diaper for the night but all in all a pretty successful day for the training.  I'm hoping that she's mostly (except nap and night) potty trained within the next few months. I know there will be accidents but she's doing pretty good so far.

I think the more time she spends either in underwear or with nothing on the bottom the better she'll be able to recognize that she has to pee. Tomorrow Jym will have some time alone with Maddie and I'm hoping he'll put her on the potty a few times and we'll see how that goes. It might be an underwear day if they are hanging at home - she loves getting the stickers for her chart and we might try a little piggy bank as she's very into coins/money to see if that will entice her a bit more to sit on the potty. I will most likely post more about this aspect both the struggles and the triumphs. I'm hoping there are more triumphs than struggles but either way I know it's a work in progress.

First Night without Mom and Dad

So this past weekend Maddie had another first in a long line of firsts. Jym and I got invited to a wedding without Maddie and decided to take the opportunity to schedule our first night without her.  Now Jym has taken a few trips overnight whether for work, conferences or with friends since Maddie has come into our lives but this would be the first time that I wouldn't be there at night with Maddie.

We made plans with Geepa to come down and watch Maddie for Friday night and headed out around 3pm for the wedding. We had a great time at the wedding and a really nice night. I missed Maddie but she did great. Slept all night long and was having a great time with Geepa when we got back the next day. It was nice that it was only one night to start with and we were only about 30 minutes away in case something did happen. I think it will make it a little easier the next time we go away (which probably won't be for a while) but it was good to have the experience.

Till the next time!

I Think We're Alone Now

Mel and I had our first night without Maddie on Friday. I've been away for the night (as many as 4) several times but this was the first time we were both gone. Things went very well.

Geepa came down to watch Maddie so we could see Danny and Julie get hitched. It was a beautiful wedding at Bluemont Vineyards in Bluemont, VA (directly across the street from the farm). It was a fantastic day, at a fantastic facility and a fantastic group of people. They really lucked out all around.

Getting back to the main point, we stayed at the Holiday Inn outside of Leesburg, VA on Route 7. Anyone that knows where we live realizes how hilarious it is that we stayed there (maybe 25 minutes away from our house). I've commented several times that I wanted to go there because it looks like a grand old plantation home yet it's a Holiday Inn. It turns out it's a banquet hall with the hotel on the side.

Mel did a great job keeping the check-ins at a minimum. I was very impressed. I believe the total count was one text in the evening and one in the morning.

We went out for a lackluster breakfast at Virginia Kitchen (food is normally excellent there) but it was a nice treat to go out just the two of us.

Maddie did great with Geepa. She didn't fuss at all and slept very well. Geepa took her shopping all over town. She got a snazzy new vacuum (Minnie of course) and a Minnie costume that she demanded.

Maddie did however refuse to take a nap yesterday. Today she fought it. I think she is still a little mad at me for my BBQ school adventure. She kept saying "Daddy with Justin" and yelling when trying to go down for a nap. I think she needed confirmation that we were both there. It appears she didn't realize we were gone until the next morning when we weren't there.

Overall I think we can do overnight adventures again. Maybe next time we'll go somewhere a little more exotic than Leesburg but it was a great start.